Hashemite (also spelled Hashimite) is the English-language version of the Arabic: هاشمي‎, transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", an Arabian clan within the larger Quraysh tribe. It also refers to an Arab dynasty whose original strength stemmed from the network of tribal alliances and blood loyalties in the Hejaz region of Arabia, along the Red Sea.

The Hashemites[1] trace their ancestry from Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf (died c. 511 AD), the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, although the definition today mainly refers to the descendants of Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah.[2] The early history of the Hashemites saw them in a continuous struggle against the Umayyads for control over who would be the caliph or successor to Muhammad. The Umayyads were of the same tribe as the Hashemites, but a different clan. After the overthrow of the Umayyads, the Abbasids would present themselves as representatives of the Hashemites, as they claimed descent from Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad. Muhammad's father had died before he was born, and his mother died while he was a child, so Muhammad was raised by his uncle Abu Talib ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, chief of the Hashemites.[3]

From the 10th century onwards, the sharif (religious leader) of Mecca and its Emir was, by traditional agreement, a Hashemite. Before World War I, Hussein bin Ali of the Hashemite Dhawu-'Awn clan ruled the Hejaz on behalf of the Ottoman sultan. For some time it had been the practice of the Sublime Porte to appoint the Emir of Mecca from among a select group of candidates. In 1908, Hussein bin Ali was appointed to the Emirate of Mecca. He found himself increasingly at odds with the Young Turks in control at Istanbul, while he strove to secure his family's position as hereditary Emirs.

Sharif Hussein bin Ali rebelled against the rule of the Ottomans during the Arab Revolt of 1916.[4] Between 1917 and 1924, after the collapse of Ottoman power, Hussein bin Ali ruled an independent Hejaz, of which he proclaimed himself king, with the tacit support of the British Foreign Office. His supporters are sometimes referred to as "Sharifians" or the "Sharifian party". Hussein bin Ali's chief rival in the Arabian Peninsula, the king of the Najd (highlands), Ibn Saud, annexed the Hejaz in 1925 and established his own son, Faysal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as governor. The region was later incorporated into Saudi Arabia.

Hussein bin Ali had five sons:

Ali, who briefly succeeded to the throne of Hejaz before its loss to the Saud family in 1925.

Today, Hashemites have spread to many places where Muslims have ruled, namely Somalia, Morocco, Iran, India, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Northern Sudan, and Turkey. Some Hashemites in these countries carry the title Sayyid or Sharif. Many members of the Banu Hashim have spread out across the world, but so far there has been no attempt to register them all under one record. The grand children of King Idris I also descend from Ali (Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib), but they use Al-Idrisi as their dynastic name instead of Hashemite. The Awan tribe of Pakistan also trace their ancestry from Ali.[5]

The Awan deserve close attention, because of their historical importance and, above all, because they settled in the west, right up to the edge of Baluchi and Pashtun territory. Legend has it that their origins go back to Imam Ali and his second wife, Hanafiya. Historians describe them as valiant warriors who fought with the Janjua and other Rajput tribes in part of the Salt Range, and eventually lost again and again. They established large colonies all along the Indus to Sind, and a densely populated centre not far from Lahore. Eventually they did win spiritually with the large scale voluntary conversion of Sind Rajpoots. Such types of claims are very common in the Indian subcontinent.[5][6][7][8]

^1. Tareekh Alvi, Maulvi Haider Ali,1896, published by Hakeem Dr. Ghulam Nabi,p.14, p.16. About this book, there is a note in " A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab" by H.A Rose that "There is the history of Awans in Urdu, published by Dr.Ghulam nabi of Lahore p.28 footnote". later on Dr.Ghulam nabi in 1906 published the second book on this subject.
2. Bab-ul-Awan,Muhammad Noor ud Din Sulemani, 1906, published by Hakeem Dr. Ghulam Nabi, p.p135.
3. Aulad Amir ul Momeneen, Abu al Husnain Wazir Hussain Al-Alvi, published by Itmaad, Qum al Muqdsa, Iran p.22 23
4. History of Awan, by Muhammad Sarwar Khan, 2009 by the Al- Faisal Nashran, Lahore. Alvi, p130, 205, 213

^Rose, H.A., 1997, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Nirmal Publishers and Distributors, p.p. 25-29.